4O VERTEBRATES: MAMMALS. 



countries west of the Mississippi, is considerably larger 

 than the common fox, dull yellowish-gray on the back 

 and sides, with a clouding of black ; under parts dingy 

 white. 



The Jackals, several species, of Africa and Asia, are 

 closely related to the wolves, belonging in the same 

 genus. 



The Domestic Dog, C.familiaris, Linn., is distinguished 

 from the other species of Canis by the recurved tail. Some 

 naturalists consider the dog a wolf ; others, that he is a 

 domesticated jackal ; and yet those dogs which have be- 

 come wild again on desert islands resemble neither the 

 one nor the other of these. Of all animals, he is the only 

 one that has followed man to every part of the globe. 



The Genus Vitlpes Foxes is characterized by a 

 slender head, elliptical pupil of the eye, scarcely lobed 

 upper incisors, and the post-orbital process of the frontal 

 bone is bent but little downwards, and the anterior edge 

 turned up. 



The Common American Red Fox, V. fitlvus, Desm., is 

 notorious for his nocturnal depredations upon farm-yards, 

 whence he carries away chickens, geese, and turkeys to 

 the dense thickets, where he spends most of the daytime. 

 The general color is reddish-yellow, the back behind griz- 

 zled with grayish, throat and a line on the belly and tip 

 of tail white, feet and ears black. 



The Cross Fox, V. fulvus, var. decussatus, Desm., takes 

 its name from the black cross formed by a dark band 

 between the shoulders crossed by another over the shoul- 

 ders. It is found in the northeastern parts of the United 

 States and Canada. 



The Silver Fox or Black Fox, V. fulvus, var. argenta- 

 tus, Shaw, is entirely black except the hind part of the 

 back, which is more or less grizzly ; and the tip of the 

 tail is white. 



